Results 1 to 4 of 4
  1. #1

    Default What Constitutes Hostile Work Environment

    My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: California

    Interested in general advice. Current employer brought in a new CEO about a year ago. New CEO has made it clear that he does not like certain members of the current executive team (mainly those hired by his predecessor). He has subsequently fired or made to resign 5 of the executive team members. In the case of the resignations, he made it so difficult for these executives to meet objectives or perform their duties they had no choice. In one case, the executive was to be demoted and would lose a significant component of his compensation. In the other, the work environment became inhospitable to such an extent that she was forced to resign. The three other executives were fired for various minor infractions, none of which were really substantiated. When fired, they were designated as fired for cause, such that unemployment benefits were made unavailable and no severance compensation was offered.

    Currently, he is targeting me. My every action is being questioned, every decision second guessed. I am being blamed for failings or missed objectives that have nothing to do with me or my area of responsibility. I have become aware now of an effort by the CEO to reduce my compensation and likely realign my position. All this is contradicted by recent and historical performance reviews that rated my performance as exceptional and performance targets that were met and documented as achieved. Clearly option one in this case is to go find a new job. However, that can and will take some time and given the history here, I could easily be fired for no particular reason and with no severance or package to hold me over until I found something new.

    Are there other options or legal remedies that could be pursued here?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    24,521

    Default Re: What Constitutes Hostile Work Environment

    A hostile work environment exists when an employee is being targeted for adverse treatment BECAUSE they are a member of a group which is categorized as protected by law. Whe you have described above does NOT meet the definition of an HWE.

    Illegal HWE - employee is being targeted for adverse treatment BECAUSE he or she is male/female/black/white/asian/hispanic/Jewish/Christian/Muslim/Hindu/Puerto Rican/Iranian/Irish/Norwegian/Belgian/name the protected category of your choice

    Legal bad place to work - employee is being targeted because the new CEO doesn't like them/wants to put in his own people/for a reason not indicated above

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Somewhere near Canada
    Posts
    35,894

    Default Re: What Constitutes Hostile Work Environment

    Read this

    And this

    Start with the reading and one of the employment experts will stop by

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Quoting cbg
    View Post
    A hostile work environment exists when an employee is being targeted for adverse treatment BECAUSE they are a member of a group which is categorized as protected by law. Whe you have described above does NOT meet the definition of an HWE.

    Illegal HWE - employee is being targeted for adverse treatment BECAUSE he or she is male/female/black/white/asian/hispanic/Jewish/Christian/Muslim/Hindu/Puerto Rican/Iranian/Irish/Norwegian/Belgian/name the protected category of your choice

    Legal bad place to work - employee is being targeted because the new CEO doesn't like them/wants to put in his own people/for a reason not indicated above

    Silver fingers

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Posts
    1,360

    Default Re: What Constitutes Hostile Work Environment

    Quote Quoting BryanPayne0215
    View Post
    they were designated as fired for cause, such that unemployment benefits were made unavailable.
    I'd believe this if maybe one out of the three didn't get benefits, but the UI system in CA is pretty forgiving provided you appeal the initial adverse decision. You should ask those three if they just accepted the first "no" they got because if they did, that's why they didn't get benefits, not because the employer's version of events would have stood up under an appeal.

    Quote Quoting BryanPayne0215
    View Post
    Are there other options or legal remedies that could be pursued here?
    Protect your rights to unemployment benefits because quite often that's all you're going to get.

    1. Sponsored Links
       

Similar Threads

  1. Getting Fired: Fired for Creating a Hostile Work Environment - What Does That Mean
    By bwoodzilla in forum Employment and Labor
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 05-19-2011, 01:05 PM
  2. Defamation: Defamation or Hostile Work Environment
    By emptyjet in forum Defamation, Slander And Libel
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 09-16-2010, 10:13 AM
  3. Supervisors: What is a Hostile Work Environment
    By phatmomma in forum Employment and Labor
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 12-07-2008, 05:00 AM
  4. Harassment: Sexual Favoritism and Hostile Work Environment
    By quitter in forum Employment and Labor
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 11-21-2008, 07:11 PM
  5. Disciplinary Issues: Disciplined for Mentioning a Sex Toy Party to Co-Workers
    By tweekie in forum Employment and Labor
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 06-23-2008, 07:36 AM
 
 
Sponsored Links

Legal Help, Information and Resources